Exsequiae of Yisandola
by rightxhere
Summary: [SamDaniel] When Jack breaks an artifact in Daniel's lab, Daniel discovers a hidden inscription within it that leads him and Sam back to the planet the artifact originated from.


**Title: **Exsequiae of Yisandola  
**Author:** Demelza  
**Disclaimer:** Stargate SG1 and its characters belong to MGM, SciFi Network and all their other owners. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission. Without Prejudice. All original characters are the property of the author.  
**Rating:** O15 (for sexual references)  
**Genre:** Friendship, romance  
**Spoilers: **Jolinar's Memories & The Devil You Know  
**Prompt:** early SG (Season 3 or before)  
**Recipient: **Triciabyrne1978 (in the _SDFICATHON_ on LiveJournal)  
**Summary:** When Jack breaks an artifact in Daniel's lab, Daniel discovers a hidden inscription within it that leads him and Sam back to the planet the artifact originated from.  
**Author's Note:** Many kind thanks to **BoscoRox** and **elizabeth1987** for alpha-reading and offering invaluable feedback! And to the irreplaceable **gh-lover** for the wonderful beta! All errors, though, are due to my own fallibility.

\/

Using one of the fine pointed brushes Sam had given him on his last birthday, Daniel gently brushed away the last of the dust from the nine-by-thirteen inch greenstone tablet that lay before him. He stopped after a moment, letting out a satisfied, "There."

When, "..._Daniel_..." a voice sounded.

Eyes fixed on the words that, to the untrained eye, looked like chicken scratch, Daniel's lips curled with a pleased smile. After nearly three weeks, he had finally gotten a chance to sort through some of the parchments and tablets he had acquired off world, and was so distracted by the remarkable stories told within what he had translated from this and one other tablet, that he had forgotten Jack was talking to him – and that he had been doing so for the last half hour.

Blinking, he looked up from the tablet and across at Jack, who was staring right at him. There was a look of fading annoyance on the older man's face. "What were you saying?" he asked, apologetically.

"That can't really be more interesting than me, can it?"

Lips pursing, he set the brush he held aside. "Well, the fact is..."

"_Don't_ say it. I'm sure I won't like your answer."

"I'm sorry, Jack."

"You're not, but thank you."

Daniel smiled, feeling terrible inside. "So, what uh, what was it you were saying?" he asked, smiling a little warmer.

"Fishing up at the cabin for the weekend."

He stiffened at the idea, a sudden urgency to get back to his translations rushing through him. "Oh, I don't know, Jack."

"Come on, Daniel. When do we ever get to go fishing together?"

His forehead creased a little in thought. "I went with you last month."

Jack shrugged. "Well, sure. But this is this month, and T's already above-ground waiting in my truck."

"I...appreciate the offer. Really, I do. But...no thanks."

He eyed Daniel doubtfully. "What do you mean '_no thanks_'?"

Sighing, Daniel looked down at the array of parchments and tablets set out before him. Finally, he looked back at Jack. "This tablet...the tale it tells was etched into it over a hundred and seventy years ago! It tells of a peasant woman, Tibhen and a young librarian, Yativh who, despite their every feeling telling them otherwise, find love with one another and it..." his voice trailed off.

Nodding, but not particularly listening, Jack picked up a small bronze artifact, curiously shook it up by his right ear. Unimpressed with it, he tossed it onto the table, evoking a disgruntled groan in frustration from Daniel. "It'll be fun! More fun than stories of people from ancient times, on worlds we don't really care that much about." Seeing the wounded look on the young archaeologists face, he offered an apologetic shrug.

_Maybe he was right_. Daniel sighed a little, the thought of sitting on a chair dockside out back of Jack's cabin sifting into his mind, and for a moment he thought of reconsidering his previous answer, but the moment passed when Jack picked up the artifact again and accidentally dropped it on the floor. "Jack!" he yelled, "That was a priceless artifact gifted to me by Yisandolans!"

"The who?" Jack asked, bending to pick up the broken pieces.

"The Yisandolans," Daniel answered abruptly, squatting beside him. "The people Sam and I met on P2C-597."

Jack stared back at him, blankly.

He cleared his throat. "The mission General Hammond sent Sam and I on last month with SG5? Come on, Jack, you can't remember griping continuously about how unfair it was _your team_ was being busted up over some'silly little excavation'?"

"Not particularly. No."

Sighing inaudibly, Daniel took the pieces Jack held and rose to his feet and set them atop his workbench. "Well, that's when Sam and I met them. And this..._this artifact_ you just broke was one of a half-dozen gifts from the chieftain of the Yisandola village to us for all the help we gave them rebuilding their palisades after an attack by a neighboring village."

A little surprised by how much he had just said – all without taking a breath – Jack slowly blinked, staring at Daniel. "Right. Well. So, that's a no then?"

"It's a no."

"Then that's all you needed to say," Jack smiled. He was stepping past Daniel, when he turned and motioned toward the artifact. "Find out what it cost, and I'll pay for damages."

"Jack..."

But he walked away, smile on his face, and Daniel turned with a somewhat relieved exhale.

Staring at the broken pieces, he let out another, softer, exhale, trying to figure out just how he was going to piece it all back together, when he noticed something on one of the outer-shell pieces of the artifact. He picked the piece up, brushed his thumb across what he thought might be an inscription on the inside of it.

"Huh," he mused, about to step over to the magnifying glass, when he heard Sam's voice.

"Daniel, have you seen T—hey, what happened to the artifact?"

He stood tall, turning and looking across at Sam, where she stood in the doorway. He acknowledged her with a small smile, before turning back to the artifact piece. "He and Jack are going fishing this weekend; he's already waiting above ground."

"Oh." She stepped inside, nodding toward the broken artifact. "The colonel?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But look at this inscription here."

She stopped beside him, and he handed her the artifact piece to look at. "What is it?" she asked, looking at it studiously.

"It's ancient Yisandolan."

Her eyes widened. "Any idea what it says?"

"I think so," Daniel said, carefully taking the piece back from her and using his brush to clear the inscription up a bit. "But...I'm certain I'm mistaken."

"How so?"

He gave her that serious look he sometimes got when he didn't want to believe what he'd discovered.

"Daniel?"

With a soft exhale, he used the brush to point out the first two 'words'. "You see here?"

She nodded.

"If my translation of the tablet and the ancient Yisandolan language is correct, then that's your name."

Staring at him in shock, Sam asked, "What?"

"And these," Daniel paused, pointing to the fourth and fifth words, "Are mine."

Her forehead creased a little, when she let out a breath and shook her head. "How does that make any kind of sense, Daniel? Our names, inside _that _artifact?"

"I don't know yet."

"What about the tablet? Didn't Tibhen have an artifact similar to this one?"

For a moment, Daniel stood, frozen, staring at Sam. "You...know the story?"

"Parts of it," Sam smiled. "I was feeling a little gate-lagged, and kept dozing off," she laughed, making Daniel chuckle. "Sari wasn't too happy about, but what I do remember is Tibhen finding her and Yativh's names inside the artifact, and that P2C-597's two moons were named after them because of something to do with them and the artifact."

"Hmm," he mused in thought, looking at the greenstone tablet. "From what I've translated so far, it...does mention the artifact, but..."

"But?"

His gaze lingered on hers for a moment, when it returned to the tablet again. His hand – holding the artifact piece – fell to his side. "Are you sure you want to know?

She stared at him, silent for a few seconds. "Yes," her voice cracked with uncertainty.

"Then we need to go back to P2C-597."

She blinked, her breath momentarily catching. "Daniel, why?"

"Because...if my translation is right, then we really need to speak with Jobis."

His words and voice serious, Sam swallowed hard, whispering, "Oh boy," under her breath. If the look on Daniel's face was anything to go by, she knew she was right to be worried.

\/

"—you want me to send the two of you back to P2C-597 because you found yours and Major Carter's names on the inside of a trinket Colonel O'Neill broke, Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel swallowed, looked sideways at Sam, before looking back at General Hammond. "Yes, sir."

"You'll have to excuse me, Doctor, if I don't seem the least bit content with the thought of allowing you to return to a planet, where—based on your own mission reports—there is a lengthy war between neighboring villages taking place."

"With all due respect, General, this is very important" he answered, beginning to feel a little frustrated.

"Important?" Hammond asked, and he huffed. "Son, I have almost two dozen requests for gate travel to various planets claiming so-called importance. What in the world would compel me to send the two of you alone, back to this one?"

"Because it's...!"

Sam stepped forward, silencing Daniel. He turned away, facing the door, and Sam quietly sighed. "The truth is, General; as strange a request as this is, we'd...both like to know why our names were in it, Sir."

He stared at the two, particularly Daniel, who turned a little at the sudden silence. "You're sure it's _your _names?"

"I'm almost a hundred percent certain the 'Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson' the inscription refers to is uh, is us, General," Daniel said, his words spoken softer than his imprudent tone from moments ago.

"I see." Hammond rose to his feet then, picking up a manila folder with him. "I'll have SG5 rendezvous with you when they return from their mission tomorrow at mid-day. I'm not happy about this, but...Major Carter, Doctor Jackson...you leave in an hour."

"Thank you, General," they both said, exchanging a small look.

\/

It wasn't long afterward, Daniel, carrying a tray with some light food on it, had just sat down at one of the many empty tables in the mess hall, when Sam approached at his left and sat down beside him. "Sam—" he begun, but she cut him off.

"Ooh, grilled chicken with pasta and spinach," she said, eyeing the plate on his tray. "And I bet you got the last plateful too, didn't you?" She looked at him, and he smiled 'yes'. "You, Daniel...are so lucky. It smells good."

Chuckling, he lifted the plate off the tray and set it between them both. "I'm happy to share."

Sam's eyes lit up. "Daniel, you are a Godsend! Let me get a fork and I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He watched her as she got up, and as she moved across to the counter his gaze trailed upward from her calves to her thighs, but it was when his gaze settled on her backside that he quickly looked away. He sat facing forward again, cleared his throat. "So I think the first thing we should do when we get to the Yisandola village is talk directly to Jobis," he said.

"Sounds like a good idea," Sam agreed, returning with a fork – and a wide smile. "You think he'll mind? I mean he didn't seem too appreciative when Colonel Becher burst into his hut without requesting an audience first."

He waited until she was seated beside him, and turned the plate so the chicken pieces were more in her direction. "Sam, Becher's got the people skills of a troglodyte."

She laughed, picking out some of the spinach and pasta with her fork. "Only you would use the term troglodyte to describe someone with such barbaric manners, Daniel."

"Yeah, well..." His voice faded, watching as she set the food in her mouth and began eating it.

"Oh man, that is _so_ good," Sam said, covering her mouth as she spoke. Laughing at her own words, she picked out some of the chicken with some pasta and spinach this time. "Daniel, eat up, or I swear I'll eat it all."

Daniel, bemused by her appetite for grilled chicken, pasta and spinach, pushed the plate in her direction. "By all means..."

Watching her eat, he couldn't get the artifact out of his mind. More than that, he couldn't get the words he had so far been able to transcribe from the tablet out of his head. He knew he owed Sam more answers than the very little he had given her, but if he couldn't make sense of it all himself, how could he expect her to?

\/

The event horizon evaporating behind Sam and him, Daniel immediately took in the dense tree area surrounding them. It was close to sunrise, and the amber glow beginning just beyond the tree line made for a beautifully warm view. Smiling, his attention was soon drawn to the lack of men who had been leading horse-drawn carts full of vegetables when they had last visited the planet.

Hearing the calls from migrating birds as they flew overhead, Sam moved out, away from the Stargate first, and Daniel slowly followed behind her.

His mind on why the villagers might have been missing, he recalled they begun work well before dawn, when the moons were still in the sky. And that's when the realization hit him. "Tibhen and Yativh," he said aloud, stopping in his steps. He removed his backpack, unzipped one of the pouches to retrieve his notebook. He scribbled a few notes, then closed the book and set it back in his bag.

"...Daniel?"

He looked up, turning his head toward Sam as he did so. "_Miral_. They celebrate their two moons, Tibhen and Yativh being full at the same time every thirty-four years." he stated. "They'll all be in the village."

"Okay," Sam agreed. She turned a little, looking out toward the long trade path that wound through a vast expanse of trees, and would lead them to the village. "So, two hours?"

"And twenty minutes," Daniel added, stopping at her side. He cast a smile in her direction. "At least Jack won't be singing."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "That's true."

\/

An hour into the trek, each of Daniel's steps began to fall with trepidation. He couldn't stop thinking about the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind since finding his and Sam's name in the artifact. And it was only now, in the absence of 'She'll be Coming Round the Mountain' from Jack that he really wished he'd accepted Jack's offer of going fishing this weekend.

The thought made him feel guilty, though. Here they were, hiking along a well marked trade route to see a Chieftain for answers, and Sam trusted him enough to go with him without knowing the reasons why they were headed there in the first place. Anyone else, and her scientist intuition would have kicked in and she'd have asked a hundred and one questions before even _considering_ going with them. _But not with him._

He made a note to pay it back to her in full when they got home. He knew just the way he'd make this whole trip up to her, too. He'd make her some grilled chicken with spinach and pasta, with a little extra parmesan cheese, just like she liked it.

Yes, _that's what he'd do_.

He was smiling inwardly, when he heard Sam's soft spoken voice. Her words grew louder then, and his thoughts faded into oblivion.

"...I just can't believe it, you know? It was so obvious! Right there in front of me the whole time!"

Chuckling, Daniel smiled warmly. "Yeah."

She was smiling too, when she looked sideways at him. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" He smiled a little wider. "I'm good, Sam."

A few more silent steps passed.

"Why do you ask?"

"You haven't really said much since we arrived. And that was almost an hour ago now."

Daniel shrugged, his steps slowing a little. "Guess I don't feel like talking much."

"I hope it's not the company," she said, her lips curling with a faint smile.

"What? You're great company, Sam."

She smiled a little more, her gaze falling to the ground after a moment. "But it is something, isn't it? To do with me, I mean."

"Of course not," he said, and took hold of her arm, gently pulling her to a stop. "It's not you, I promise."

Sam smiled again, her eyes searching his. "Daniel. We're here because you found our names etched in an ancient alien language inside a small artifact—"

"Exsequiae of Yisandola," he smiled back.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, confused.

"The artifact, that's what its name is. Exsequiae of Yisandola."

"Oh." She stared at him, silent for a moment. "What does the Exsequiae stand for?"

"Relic, at least it does in Latin."

"I guess that makes sense."

He smiled, nodding gently.

She silently smiled back at him, and they walked a while more, before she stopped him to ask, "But...why are we here? And please don't tell me again that it's because we need Jobis to explain something to do with the relic, because Ithink you know more about it than you're letting on."

He tensed up, started walking again. "It...it's complicated, Sam."

"Are you saying I wouldn't be able to grasp any of it?" she said, following a few small steps behind him.

"No," he said, stopping again to give her that 'that's not what I meant' look.

His steps resumed, and she stood there, staring after him. "Then, why not try explaining it?"

"Because I didn't finish the translation," he said, stopping once again. He turned, looking at her. "So, what if I'm wrong? What if I got the translation wrong?"

"Including our names? Which, Daniel, I have to point out...you managed to spot rather specifically."

Sighing, Daniel shook his head. "It's hard to explain."

Casting him a disbelieving look, Sam stepped up to him. "That I don't believe." She was standing in front of him now, and she looked right at him, but he dropped his gaze to the ground. "Daniel..."

"Look, I've gotta...take a leak," he said, quickly excusing himself. "Sorry, Sam."

Beginning to feel a hint of frustration, she stared after him. "Daniel!" Getting no answer, though, she turned away, growling under her breath.

\/

The rest of the walk along the trade route was in much the same silence as the first part had been. The trees creaked and groaned around them, showing just how thick the silence between Sam and Daniel had grown. Admittedly, there were little things said, things relating to their previous mission to the planet, and comments about upcoming ones they hoped the General wouldn't give to SG8 instead of SG1, but nothing relating to the artifact.

Looking over her shoulder at a badly limping Daniel, Sam stopped where she was, a few feet ahead of him. "How's the knee?"

"It's okay," he grimaced, forcing a wide smile. "That'll teach me to go climbing rocks all in the name of getting photos of..." A couple steps away from her, he stopped. "...of other-worldly marsupials that have long been extinct on earth."

Sam smiled. "You'd let a knock to the knee stop you?" she asked, moving over to him to offer her shoulder for support.

He cast her an appreciative smile, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Thanks."

"Sure thing."

They moved forward a few steps, when he answered, "And no, I wouldn't. Then again, maybe next time I'll bring a better camera."

"Well that's a thought," she smirked.

A long couple of minutes of slow walking passed, when she added, "And maybe when we get to the village you can put that leg up and rest?"

Smiling, Daniel tried a few more steps, when they both came to a sudden stand-still. "Alright, I promise I will," he laughed, but she was looking far ahead of them. "What? What is it?" he asked, looking in the direction she was.

"That wasn't there last time, was it?" she asked, pointing towards what she could see of a marble statue overhead the thatch huts, and the new palisade that surrounded the village.

"Not that I recall," he replied, looking in her direction. "I'll need a closer look to tell you what its meaning is."

"Didn't you tell Jobis about the statues the people of Ancient Egypt would use to ward off danger?"

"Well, yeah. But those were usually at the head-end of beds."

"True."

They continued moving again, silent once more, when Sam sighed. "Daniel, this is stupid."

Exhaling with his own small sigh, he looked sidelong at her. "I know, and I'm sorry, Sam, but I..."

"Forget it," she said, and he could hear the hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Sam, I really am sorry. I'd explain if I...if I understood it all myself."

Another couple of steps, and she shook her head at herself. "I know you would, Daniel. I guess I just wish you'd tell me what you're hoping to be wrong about."

_I wish I could, Sam, _he thought, wincing aloud when pain shot through his knee again.

"Only a little further to go," Sam said, Daniel nodded, wordlessly.

\/

As they approached the village, the pair followed the path past the palisade and into the centre of the village and found the Yisandola people seated at wooden tables – a fire lit in the centre – surrounding the newly erect statue; sharing drinks and food in celebration.

"Huh," Sam said, the remark directed at Daniel, and he lightly bit his lower lip in thought.

"Look, it is Daniel and Samantha!" one of the Yisandolan people shouted.

"They return!" the town's leader, Jobis, exclaimed. The slightly hunchbacked older man ushered those around him to clear two spaces, before motioning for the two to come and join him.

Exchanging a smile each, Sam and Daniel removed their weapons and some of their gear, before setting it all aside and joining Jobis at the table.

"Please, help yourself to some shanks," Jobis said, setting a plate of what looked like mutton shanks in front of them. "The start of this day marks Miral, and tonight when Tibhen and Yativh show themselves in their full dignity, there shall be much wedded bliss! Please, you will stay, will you not?"

"Uh, we..." Daniel paused, looking sideways at Sam for a moment, before turning his attention back to Jobis.

"We've come in need of some answers," Sam said, casting a glance at Daniel.

"Ah, but of course! After breakfast, we shall talk, yes? But first, what of this Jack O'Neill you told us of on your last visit?" Jobis asked. "He did not wish to visit this humble village?"

"Unfortunately he couldn't make it." Daniel cleared his throat, "He's gone fishing, with another companion of ours," he said.

"Ah. Well that my young friend is of great shame. Some ladies of our very village were of hope he would come and choose one to be his in unity this day," Jobis replied. He motioned towards five women sitting together out toward their right, and both Sam and Daniel frowned a little. "Are they not the most beautiful women you have ever set those eyes of blue upon, Daniel Jackson?"

"Uh, yeah..." he nodded. He cleared his throat again, his cheeks beginning to burn, glad when Jobis removed his arm from around his shoulder and begun talking loudly to someone at his right.

"Looks like we're in for an interesting day," Sam smiled at Daniel, her gaze falling to his lips for a second, before meeting his gaze when he turned to look at her.

He had caught her momentary look at his lips, and Daniel smiled warmly – albeit a little unnerved, though he wasn't sure why. "Yeah," he said.

Plates were soon set in front of them by Jobis' wife, Sari, and the pair quietly thanked her.

"You know, I'm not really all that hungry," Sam said, watching as Daniel picked up a nut from the bowl between them and popped it in his mouth. "I can see you are."

"Well, someone ate my dinner," he said, grinning.

"You offered," she playfully argued.

"Daniel," Jobis said then, quieting the two. They looked toward the bearded older man, who promptly draped his arm around Daniel's shoulder once again. "It is time for you to try what you would call...'wine'," he announced.

"Uhh...the thing is..."

"Please! You must! Our old bag-of-bones druid and I have worked many long days to make it right. You must please try it. Both of you."

"I don't know," Daniel replied, "We're not really here to..."

"Come, Daniel Jackson. Try it. Be the first guest of another world to sample its simple taste," Jobis said, placing a large clay cup in front of Daniel. "It would be an honor if you would," he added.

"Go on, Daniel..." Sam said, her lips forming a grin.

Daniel's eyes narrowed just a little, when he turned back to Jobis. He hadn't realized how quiet the large table had gotten. Everyone was waiting for him. And so, not speaking, he picked up the brown cup and took a small sip. His immediate reaction was to pull a face at the expected sourness of the liquid, but his expression quickly changed to one of surprise, and he wet his lips. "Oh wow, that's actually not bad."

Jobis' face beamed with delight. "You would then drink more? Please?"

He nodded, taking another small sip of the drink. "It's nice. Very sweet."

"May I?" Sam asked, and Daniel passed her the cup.

There were many gasps from amongst the women, and surprised looks from the men. Sam, not wanting to do anything to offend the villagers, leaned close to Daniel, quietly asking, "Did I just offend everyone?"

He looked at a few of the villagers, and shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think so."

"Good, just checking," she said, casting him a smile before taking a slightly longer sip of the drink than he had.

Some of the women started talking amongst themselves, while Jobis smiled at what Sam had just done.

\/

Somewhere between eating a rather large plateful of vegetables that held little to no resemblance to their taste-counterparts on Earth, and drinking a little too much of the 'wine' Jobis had insisted the pair try some more of, Daniel and Sam sat laughing at the banquet table, watching as humorous renditions of colonel Becher's intrusion into Jobis' hut were played out before them.

As guests of honor they were treated to long hours of songs and dancing, and it was only when the table was being cleared and prepared for the villagers' mid-day meal that Jobis asked the pair to join him down by the lake in the far north-eastern end of the village.

"That was some feast, Jobis," Daniel told the much shorter, older man.

Jobis, finding a sturdy log to sit on, sat to rest his aching bones and looked up at Daniel. "I am very pleased to hear you enjoyed it, Daniel. Please, sit," he said, motioning toward the grassy ground.

Casting Sam a glance first, Daniel sat cross legged on the ground, while she began walking out to the lake. "I don't think we've had such a warm greeting in a long while," he said after a moment, a smile on his lips.

"No, perhaps not," Jobis smiled back at him. "You must someday tell me of these many other worlds you have visited, and the people you have met."

"It would be an honor," he said, looking out at Sam again. She had taken her jacket off a while ago now, and he was taken aback by the shimmering reflection of the lake on her bare arms. Her golden blond hair, too, shimmered from the light on the water, and he swallowed hard.

When, his gaze shifted downcast for a moment, before going back to the chieftain. "Jobis...the reason our General allowed Sam and I to come back here today..."

"You seek answers," the older man said, and he nodded. "It was not so long ago my son Gath and his wife to be, Lila, sought the same such answers."

"The same—?"

Jobis lifted part of his robe, and opened the leather pouch he carried around his waist. "Every Exsequiae," he paused, removing an artifact almost exactly similar to the one that lay broken in Daniel's lab back at the SGC. "...carries within it, its own answers."

His mind trying to make sense of it, Daniel frowned, bewildered.

As if sensing his confusion, Jobis motioned toward Sam. "You see before you a friend, do you not?"

He nodded, smiling, "Of course."

"And here," Jobis said, pointing to his own heart. "You feel the strength of that friendship." He lowered his hand to his lap. "The Exsequiae of Yisandola, if it be its purpose, would tell you of that friendship."

Forehead creasing deep in thought, Daniel asked, "What about the story of Tibhen and Yativh? In the tablet, it said that Tibhen found her and Yativh's names etched within one of those same relics. It talked of their friendship, and how their names' being inside the relic was a symbol of the eternal unity they would some day share."

"Yes, that is true. But of Tibhen and Yativh. Many names throughout many generations have been found within; and there are a great many more that have not. You see, were it not for the moons being named after them, we would never have heard of the great and eternal love between Tibhen and Yativh. Generations would not have looked to every Exsequiae that have been made to find this love."

Daniel nodded, silently.

"You see, Daniel, the moons that adorn our skies during differing cycles were not always named as they are. It was not until the day Tibhen and Yativh found their love, at the age of thirty-four – the very same many years between each cycle of the full moons, and on the very day of Miral, that the moons were named thus."

A small breath escaping, he looked out at Sam again for a second, before turning back to Jobis as he continued.

"To some, the Exsequiae of Yisandola will be a symbol of their eternal love, others it will be of great friendship, and yet to so many more it will give only a proverb. And, to the unfortunate few, such as your Colonel Becher, it will be an ancient curse."

Smiling, and slightly amused, Daniel went to speak, when Sam approached and sat down beside him. "That lake, Daniel, is..._beyond words_."

"My dear Samantha," Jobis began, pausing for a moment, "Wait until tonight, when Tibhen and Yativh appear. The sight will undeniably be more than words can express."

"I can't wait," Sam said, smiling sidelong at Daniel, and he smiled warmly in return.

"It is soon time for the mid-day meal," the older man had said then, casting a glance at Sam first, then Daniel. "Sit here, enjoy the view while we prepare the feast."

"Really, we'd love to help..." Daniel said, but Jobis insisted he stay seated. "Are you sure? We don't mind getting our hands dirty."

"I am sure. You are honored guests, and as such you should rest. Especially you, Daniel Jackson. Your leg may yet feel healed from that babbling druid's concoction, but do trust me from my own hapless experience, if you continue to use your leg, you will do yourself further harm."

Daniel smiled, "Oh. We'll stay here and rest, then."

"Good," Jobis said, rising carefully from the log and leaving the two there alone.

He hadn't been gone very long, when Sam asked, "Did you ask him?"

Daniel nodded, meeting her gaze. "Yeah."

She waited for him to answer, but he didn't. "Well, what did he have to say?"

"That...depends. Do you want the long version, or the short one?"

She opened her mouth, thinking. "I think I'll have the short version, please."

He smiled warmly, "Well, he said every Exsequiae carries within it, its own answers."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, for some – such as Tibhen and Yativh, finding their names within it mean they're destined for eternal love and unity. In others there'll be proverbs, and in the case of Becher, an ancient curse."

Sam couldn't help it, she laughed. "Poor Becher."

"I can only imagine what kind of curse it is," Daniel mused, chuckling too.

"Mmm."

They sat there a while, when an awkward silence fell on them.

"So, eternal love?" Sam asked, almost breathless. She looked sideways at Daniel, and he was staring at the ground, his eyebrows arched high and his lips pursed in that way he often did when a situation was uncomfortable.

After a moment, he offered her a shrug. "Well, that or great friendship," he said, looking back at her.

"Makes sense," she said, smiling.

"It does," he agreed.

They sat there awhile, when Daniel nudged Sam with his elbow. "Did you find out what you did wrong?"

"With...?"

"Sharing from my cup," he said, shrugging a little.

"Oh. That...no I...I wasn't," she said, her cheeks starting to flush a little.

Laughing quietly, he grinned. "I find it hard to believe you weren't...not with the way your cheeks have gone as red as they did when the chief's wife took you aside."

"That...had nothing to do with the cup thing," Sam protested.

"No?" he asked, giving her a look of disbelief.

"No, it...it's way too embarrassing."

"More embarrassing than that time you were forced to marry a Sik'Nai?"

Sam's eyes widened in horror. "You promised we'd never talk about that!"

Daniel laughed again, louder this time. "Well it's not every day you get married to a largely over-weight, overly-friendly, half-alien, half-human hybrid who was more than a little besotted with you, Sam...all in the name of saving the team from being sold as sex slaves. Which, for the record, I don't think Jack was too upset about."

She narrowed her eyes, glowering at him. "I'm beginning to regret it now, believe you me."

"Aww," he taunted, a small part of him imagining taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles in apology. The thought out of place, he looked away from her, rebuking himself for having had it.

They sat there like that a while, quiet with small smiles on both their lips, when Daniel gently elbowed Sam again. "So, this way too embarrassing conversation with Jobis' wife...?"

Closing her eyes, Sam sighed. "I'm going to kill you, Daniel."

Grinning, he knew she didn't mean a word of what she just said.

_It was shortly after they had arrived and Sam was standing a short distance away from the table, watching as the village druid, Trisdal, tended to Daniel's sore knee. It was when he was instructed to lose his pants that she turned away, not wanting to cause him any embarrassment._

_Her eyes scanning a clearing just beyond where she stood, she watched as Brant and Jana, one of the few young couples who were to be wed tonight, danced to the music that Jobis' son, Gath, played on his flute._

_The music was almost magical in a sense, sounding much like the panned flutes of earth. They moved so effortlessly together, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of longing. She imagined being held the way Brant held Jana in his arms, and it made her stomach knot._

_She smiled, watching them for a long while, when Jobis' wife, Sari, approached her with a bowl of fruit._

_"Something to eat?" the older woman asked, and Sam shook her head._

_"No thank you."_

_"They dance well, don't they?"_

_Sam nodded. "They do, Sari."_

_The woman smiled warmly. "And you? Do you dance well?"_

_"I...don't really think so," she laughed._

_"Nor can Jobis. He does try his best, but more often my feet are covered in bruises by the night end."_

_"Ouch," Sam winced. "Have you thought of getting him lessons?"_

_Sari motioned toward a log carved into what looked liked a park bench without a back on it, and the two sat down. "I did try once," she said, her face lighting up as she spoke. "She was a nursing maid, from a far-off village. I do not think she was ever so scared in her life than the day she attempted to teach my husband to dance."_

_"Oh no," Sam replied, trying not to laugh._

_"But, it is a time long past." She smiled, nodding toward Daniel, Jobis and Trisdal. "Let us hope you and Daniel will be able to join in the dancing tonight. Trisdal can work some wonderful healing at times, but he is no magician."_

_"Daniel and I? I don't think we'll be dancing together," Sam quietly explained._

_"No? But you are such a wonderful match. You do not like to dance with him?"_

_"Oh, it's not that I don't...or that we ever have, but we're just friends."_

_"I see," Sari nodded, understanding. "There is a hope in your eye, though."_

_"A hope?" Her cheeks began to flush. "We're colleagues, that's all."_

_"Surely you are not blind to his affections, nor he to yours?" She shook her head, "No, this will not in the least bit do, Samantha."_

_"Really, Sari...we're friends, we don't—"_

_The older woman sighed, a mixture of sadness and confusion on her face. "How could he not? Or you of him? Does not your womanhood languish for the feel of his fullness?"_

_Sam suddenly felt like she was turning a deep shade of crimson. Her neck burned, and she cleared her throat, trying to get the sudden images out of her mind._

_"You see?" Sari smiled. "Had you never felt such a way, you would never have turned such a color of red."_

\/

"...you listen here; my team and I are here on _direct orders_ to rendezvous with Doctor Jackson and Major Carter...!"

His eyes and mind fighting to keep the world out, Daniel exhaled a long, heavy breath, every part of him wishing for just one more minute of sleep.

"I don't care if I'm not allowed to bother them! I want to speak with them at once!"

Gingerly peering out from underneath weighted eyelids, his first instinct told him he was back at the base, but the dry mud walls of the thatch hut seeped into his conscious mind and he let out a happy sigh, memories of the night past fresh in his mind.

_"You know, a girl could get pretty impatient waiting, Daniel."_

Sam's voice filled his mind, and he smiled, remembering their conversation after the supper feast.

_He'd been about to reply, when she took a few steps backward, away from him, and suddenly began twirling in circles. She was laughing, and although it wasn't the first time he had ever heard her laugh, it was the first time since they sent themselves to Ne'tu to rescue her father from Sokar that he'd seen her so alive._

_He knew she'd had more of Jobis and Trisdal's wine, and while it hadn't greatly inebriated either of them, it seemed it helped Sam to relax and enjoy her time here more than she had the last time they had visited the planet._

_It was wonderful, though, to hear her laughter and see happy, care-free smile that adorned her moonlit face._

_Daniel smiled, his hands buried deep in his pant pockets. "Waiting on what?" he asked._

_Sam stopped twirling, her bright-eyed gaze stopping on his. She was practically out of breath, but it didn't stop her from laughing. "On you, Daniel," she said._

_Her wet and bit on his lower lip, stepped toward her. "To do...what?"_

_She took a step closer to him, "I think you know."_

_His smile grew a little wider, and he removed both hands from his pockets. "You're...beautiful, Sam."_

_Smiling shyly, she tilted her head a little to the side. "So why haven't you kissed me yet?"_

_Daniel lifted his right hand, gently caressed her cheek, and her eyes drifted shut at his touch. "I wasn't sure you'd want me to."_

_"I do," Sam murmured, eyes opening to meet his gaze. And as he closed the gap between them her lips parted, making him smile a little more. "I want you to kiss me, Daniel..." she breathed._

_His gaze dropping from hers, to her lips, he leaned in slowly. His pulse quickening, he met her gaze once more, to see if she was really sure about this._

_Her eyes danced with a soft smile, and he smiled too. It was when her gaze drifted back to his lips, though, that he finally leaned in and tenderly captured her mouth with his._

_The kiss, sweet and slow, came to an end, and Daniel sighed softly, his eyes opening as their lips parted._

_"I think..." Sam whispered, gaze dropping to his moist lips, "...our friendship is officially never going to be the same."_

_"Well," he mused between thoughts, "Change is good."_

_She moved both hands to his shoulders, "I agree," she breathlessly said, pressing her mouth to his and kissing him deeper than he had her._

"Listen to me, you!"

Daniel's eyes shot open. It was Colonel Becher's voice he could hear outside, and he groaned aloud, cursing the man's bad timing.

"Oh would you shut up," a hoarse voice mumbled at Daniel's left, and he turned his head sharply, to see the very much bare back of a woman beside him.

"I want to speak with either Doctor Jackson or Major Carter _this minute_!"

His eyes trailed every curvature of the woman's evenly tanned and athletic form, and the yelling outside faded from his mind as a tingling sensation rose in his leg, which only ascended higher when the woman at his side stirred with an elongated, soft moan.

His breath caught when she began to move, and when she rolled onto her back his groin began to throb. Her stomach was perfectly toned, her arms slender, and when he saw her breasts he imagined leaning over and softly kissing each of the freckles that adorned her skin one by one.

She sighed softly, taking him out of his thoughts, and he knew she was not impressed by being rudely awoken by the ruckus going on outside.

His eyes followed the path from her bosom to her collarbone, and when he saw the golden locks he smiled. "Morning, Sam..." he said, his voice low.

Sam, staring up at the roof, turned her head, gazing back at Daniel. She cast him a small smile, before rolling onto her side and pulling the sheet up to cover her breasts as she did so. "Morning yourself," she smiled. "You sleep well?"

He nodded, gently touching her arm with the back of his hand. "You?"

"When I could," she said with a nod, biting her lower lip momentarily, a wider smile stretching across her face.

He rolled onto his side with her. She inched closer, and he sighed contently. He met the smile she wore with one of his own, when he gently caressed her cheek, before leaning in and giving her a good morning kiss.

"Mmm," Sam moaned into his mouth. "I think I could get used to waking up to that every morning."

"I was thinking more along the lines of last night," Daniel murmured.

"Yes, that..." She cleared her throat. "I had no idea you were so..."

His eyes widened a little. "You either."

She snuggled against him with a smile and his arms wrapped around her, holding her close. "I never saw this coming, did you?" she said.

"Honestly?"

There was a hitch in his voice, and Sam pulled back just enough to look at him. "Honestly," she repeated, softly.

"After reading what I had already translated of the tablet?" He began, pausing to catch his breath. "And later, by chance finding our names in that artifact? I guess...a big part of me wanted it to happen."

"That's why you wouldn't tell me? Even after Jobis told you what it all meant?"

He nodded. "Sounds pretty selfish, right?"

She rested her head on his shoulder again, began tracing soft circles on his chest with her fingertip. "It's not so selfish," she faintly murmured. "But I...I have to be honest, too."

He could feel her smiling against his chest, and it made him smile, too. When, "Oh?" he asked her.

"I'd spent most of the day telling myself what Sari kept insisting was, or _could be_, between us just...didn't fit. That we were strictly friends, except..." She paused, momentarily unable to breathe, when she continued, "...except when all the young couples were being united under the watch of Tibhen and Yativh, it was like suddenly everything made sense."

She pulled back from Daniel again, staring at him. "It was like suddenly, you and I..._that we_...made sense," she stammered, her voice fading as if in a way that seemed like she was only now feeling the magnitude of her thoughts as she spoke them aloud.

His caresses against her back slowed then, and he swallowed. "You...felt that way?" he asked, just as breathless. She nodded, and he smiled a wide smile. "God, Sam...you have no idea how delighted I am to hear that."

"I think I have a pretty fair idea," she replied, arching both eyebrows, an enticing smile on her lips.

Daniel grinned, his hands moving down Sam's back as she leaned her face closer to his. "Guess it's just as well Jobis promised to...introduce Becher to a few of Trisdal's more...exotic, beverages this morning."

"Mmhmm," she murmured, her arm winding around his neck as he rolled her onto her back. She smiled up at him, her other arm going around his neck too. "I knew I'd like this weekend."

"Touché," Daniel growled, lowering his lips to Sam's and kissing her.

\/

It was after the mid-day meal before Becher and the rest of SG5 left the Yisandola village. Sam and Daniel trailed behind the team, and were a little less than a mile away from the Stargate when Becher sounded over the radio.

_"You ladies planning on returning to the SGC sometime today?"_

They exchanged a smile, when Sam reached for her radio. "We're at the crossroad one click from the Stargate, Colonel. We'll be there in less than ten minutes, sir."

_"Oh wonderful. I'll let the General know he can finally expect you."_

"He's...strung pretty high, isn't he?" Daniel asked, looking sidelong at Sam.

"He was my drill sergeant in basic training. This is...nothing in comparison," she laughed. "It was nice of Jobis, though, inviting us to lunch before we headed out."

"Not that Becher was too happy about it," he answered, smile curling his lips.

"Ah, he'll get over it," Sam said, and they walked the rest of the way back to the Stargate in silence.

Becher sent his men through first, casting a dissatisfied look at Sam and Daniel both, before stepping through the gate himself.

Sam smiled, moving up the steps, when she realized Daniel hadn't come up the steps with her. She turned, looking down at him. "Daniel?"

"How about breakfast?" he asked with a shrug.

She grinned at the thought. "You do know it's barely even midnight back on Earth yet, don't you?"

Daniel stepped up the steps, stopping at the one just below her, making them stand at eye-level. "I know."

"And General Hammond will likely expect some kind of debriefing."

"Like you said, it's barely even midnight yet on Earth, Sam. And it'd be such a waste to do nothing to fill in the hours in-between."

She smiled, "I can't argue with that logic."

"Didn't think you could," he grinned, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "See you on the other side, Doctor Carter."

Watching him take the next step and walk into the event horizon, Sam couldn't help the all-knowing grin that spread across her lips. "Indeed," she said, stepping through the gate after him.


End file.
